Does AA do more Harm than good?

Question

Since AA exposure causes people to be more likely to commit suicide and binge drink... how can it be said to help when people who quit on their own are just as likely to succede as AAers.
How does filling your head with drivel, slogans and outright lies masquerading as TRUTH ((sacred and unquestionable))

Answer 1

Even if I thought AA worked for anybody, I still wouldn't suggest it for anyone; it harms more than it helps.

1) Dr. Brandsma found that A.A. increased the rate of binge drinking, and
2) Dr. Ditman found that A.A. increased the rate of rearrests for public drunkenness, and
3) Dr. Walsh found that "free A.A." made later hospitalization more expensive, and
4) Doctors Orford and Edwards found that having a doctor talk to the patient for just one hour was just as effective as a whole year of A.A.-based treatment.
5) Dr. George E. Vaillant, the A.A. Trustee, found that AA treatment was completely ineffective, and raised the death rate in alcoholics. No other way of treating alcoholics produced such a high death rate as did Alcoholics Anonymous.

1) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Brandsma
2) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Ditman
3) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Walsh
4) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Orford
5) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Vaillant

Sure there are good people in AA. They've been
mislead. Unfortunately, they give AA an air of legitimacy.

Answer 2

The ortange papers back up what you say.
http://www.orange-papers.org/

It is hard to get anyone to see that the suicides are less from the depression and other problems and more from the fools paradise that stepism is.

Most people leave AA within a few months and mistakenly believe it was going to the meetings that helped them stop drinking but they fail to see all the abuse that goes on in the rooms... Some meetings are like romper room daycare center for peter pans who never grew up, others are full of quiet wellmeaning folks but a few bullies always spoil the pot.

Answer 3

If you are forced to attend A.A. because of probation, it can be disheartening. If you are allowed to choose if you really want to attend, then it is more of a viable option. I stopped attending A.A. once I was given the nod by my probation officer.

To be honest, I'm glad I went for 5 months. I learned a lot about other peoples drama, struggles, hopes and misfortunes. But now I am content with reading 'The A.A. Big Book' on my own free time, and reading 'The 24-Hour a Day' book at night before I go to sleep. Some people crave approval from an audience that they are doing good. Some people feel the need to express their feelings and emotions to a group. I'm fine with being in my own little world, and not telling strangers my problems. But it's nice to know that if I need to talk to someone, I have the option to attend a meeting if I want.

Answer 4

I'm there with sasyone, I've been to a good number of AA meetings with several close friends and while I did decide to quit drinking, on my own, about 4 years ago, I did not face the same addictions an alcoholic does. I have seen people succeed through AA and NA, who had pretty much proven they had no chance in other ways.
LOL, my opinion really has no bearing, AA and NA have proven themselves beyond a shadow of a doubt to millions of people who have addictive personalities of all sorts, work-a-holics, sex-a-holics, it doesn't matter.
Not everyone succeeds, but if u want to change ur life, it is one of the few situations that will help most people do just that.
The key is, do U want to?
Lots of griping by immature minded folks who haven't really come to the conclusion that they need to work on themselves, kinda afraid to face the real man in the mirror, thing. I'd be willing to bet that pretty much everyone on earth needs to work on themselves, so what's the prob?

Answer 5

You have missed the entire point which is that that to some/many people AA and it's methodology works for them and for many is the route for curing/controlling their alcohol addiction.

Additionally ,you are merely using the question to allow you an opportunity to vent your slander against AA .

That YOU personally find it and their ethos offensive is totally irrelevant and of NO consequence .

Most of us "use" a multiplicity of techniques,systems,"isms" to deal with what life throws at us and as long as these do not violate/abrogate the rights of others ,then they are completey acceptable both intelectually and morally.

Your seemingly obsessive fixation with AA and your virtually hatred of it ,indicates clearly that there is "something else going on here " and you should find out what it is.As any Psych 101 student knows,you are using this subject as a vehicle to expiate some other issue .

More importantly ,you have made a number of very damning totally un-evidenced/un-substantiated accusations against AA which you then USE to justify YOUR "conclusions" about AA.

Until such time as you provide such substantiating evidence,your conclusions are blatantly erroneous/illogical sort of like in the expression , "Garbage in ,Garbage out".

If I were an alchoholic the AA methodology would not work for me but if it does for others,great .

Answer 6

I think it is nothing but a cult. My ex-boss used to attend AA and he always had to be in charge, judged everyone, tried to pick up every woman he thought he could get into bed with, and ended up eventually losing his business and being court ordered to Sex Addicts Anonymous! A lot of good it did him!

Answer 7

You have your mind made up--so really, no sense in even answering. For a lot of people, alcoholism is so very addictive, that it takes a LOT of support, faith and belief to overcome it!! Then there are those who drink inorder to suppress feelings and they can profit more from work with a psychologist. I firmly believe that whatever it takes to stop a destructive life-style, GOOD FOR THEM!!!

Answer 8

Ive been to AA and it is a great organization that has helped hundreds of thousands of people to get their lives back.So I don't know what kind of bunk you've heard but I know its a great bunch of people who support each other to get better.

Answer 9

Alcoholics Anonymous is a religious organization. ALL religions cause harm to an individual.